[1] Note. Of the objects in the lower compartment of this plate, the Pine is mentioned at p. 81; the Aloe at p. 130; the Cara is described at p. 97, and the Mandioca at p. 101.

[2] Here I found mint, caraway, balm, wormwood, and many other aromatic herbs, growing wild in the greatest luxuriance. The stratum of vegetable earth was at least two yards thick.

[3] At a small town called Minas, ten leagues from Maldonado, I was informed that there was a lead mine in limestone. A piece of that substance was sent to me; it was flesh-colored, granular, and close in texture.

[4] The people of Paraguay are a more inactive and listless race than any I ever met with. They seem to be conscious of no wants beyond those of mere animal existence, and these they choose to supply at the smallest possible expense of bodily exertion. Their supreme enjoyment is to remain at home in a state of quietism or rather torpor, leaving to the negroes the little agricultural toil that is required. They are reserved, slothful, and patient, yet, with all their apathy, they are friendly and somewhat courteous to strangers, provided they be not required to go much into society or to bear an active part in conversation. Commerce is almost unknown among them, and there is very little specie in circulation. To a stranger, who has mingled in the busy scenes of life, they seem absolutely weary of existence as of a burthen. Blest with a fine climate and a land flowing with milk and honey, they are unable to appreciate and turn to advantage the bounties which divine Providence has lavished upon them; and from these and other causes the population is very scanty compared with the extent of the country. Such is the native land of the Peons of Monte Video and Buenos Ayres. The state of society in that remote region is deteriorated by the admission of refugees from Europe, who here find shelter from justice, and propagate, in safe obscurity and with perfect impunity, their vices among a people too much predisposed by indolence for such contaminations, and unfitted by the same failing for receiving any tincture of civilization, which a more lively and apprehensive race of men might imbibe from foreign settlers, however dissolute in morals. The Peons, who migrate southward to seek employment, soon acquire a taste for ardent spirits, and thus heighten, sometimes to an uncontrolable degree, the ferocity engendered by the habit of torturing and killing cattle. They have no strong sense of danger to deter them from crime, but, on the contrary, are aware, that on any breach of the law they can elude its penalties by galloping three or four hundred miles into the interior, where their crimes will be unknown, and where they can bid defiance to pursuit or detection.

In some parts of Paraguay timber grows in abundance; it is cut, and floated down the river to Buenos Ayres, not in rafts but in single trees.

[5] A platted lash, about twenty yards long, with an iron ring at one end, through which the other end being passed forms a noose.

[6] Such indeed is their excessive propensity to gambling, that they frequently carry cards in their pocket, and, when an opportunity occurs, form parties, and retire to a convenient place, where one of them spreads his poncho or mantle on the ground, in lieu of a table. When the loser has parted with his money, he will stake his clothes, so that the game generally continues until one of them goes away almost naked. This bad practice often leads to serious consequences. I once observed a party playing in the neighbourhood of a chapel after mass had been said, when the clergyman came and kicked away the cards in order to put an end to the game. On this, one of the Peons rose up, and retiring a few paces, thus accosted the intruder: “Father, I will obey you as a priest; but” (laying his hand on his knife) “you must beware how you molest our diversion.” The clergyman knew the desperate character of these men too well to remonstrate, and retired very hastily, not a little chagrined.

On another occasion a Peon was gambling with a Spanish corporal in the prison-yard, when a dispute arising, the latter drew his sword on his unarmed antagonist, and wounded him so severely in the arm, that he was obliged to undergo amputation the day following.

It is usual for a Peon who has been fortunate at play, to go to Monte Video and clothe himself anew in the shop of a slop-seller. While the shopman is looking out the articles he calls for, he deliberately places his dollars on the counter, in separate piles, assigning each to its destined purpose. He then retires to a corner, and attires himself; an unfortunate comrade invariably attends him, who examines his cast clothes, and, if better than his own, puts them on. After passing a few days in idleness, he sets out on his return home, where he appears in his new dress.

[7] Among the many daring and active feats performed by the Peons, one of the most extraordinary of late years, was the capture of a tiger by a female of that tribe. She was a mulatto-woman, brought up in the vicinity of Barriga Negra. She was accustomed at an early age to ride horses, and prided herself in doing offices which belonged to the stronger sex, such as catching cattle with the noose, killing them, &c. Her form was masculine, and she became so inured to men’s work, that she was hired as a Peon, and fulfilled that office much to the satisfaction of her employers. She was noted for selecting spirited horses, and for riding them at full speed. One day on her return from labor, as she was passing a rivulet, she observed a large tiger at no great distance. Surprised that the animal did not steal away, as is generally the case when he sees a person mounted, she drew nearer, still keeping her horse’s head from him, so as to be ready to gallop off if he should make a spring. He was still inattentive and motionless; the woman observing this, and thinking he ailed something, after some minutes’ pause backed her horse until she came within twenty yards of him, loosening at the same time her noose from the saddle, which she threw most dexterously over his neck, and immediately galloped away with him to a considerable distance. Whether maimed or not before, she knew he must now be dead; she therefore alighted, flayed him, and carried home the skin as a trophy. The animal was above the ordinary size, and not smaller than a calf six weeks old. This exploit was long the talk of the neighbourhood, and I have heard the woman herself relate the adventure.

[8] Sus Tajassu.—Lin. TajaÇu.—Buffon.

[9] One mode which they adopted for displaying their triumph over their late conquerors was singular enough; they collected all the sign boards belonging to the English warehouses and shops, and made a bonfire of them. A great quantity of these boards was from the pulperias, the masters of which had been obliged to have on them the following inscription, painted in large characters, “Licensed to sell liquor.”

[10] The fishery of the baugre here is very considerable, and the mode of catching the fish, by means of a curved line of boats, by night, (from each of which is held a flambeau of straw to scare the fish toward the shore), is singularly picturesque, and might remind the imaginative spectator of a crescent of wild fire dancing on the waves. The fish is called at Rio de Janeiro the mulatto velho; the negroes eat it during Lent, and on Fridays and Saturdays.

[11] This very rarely happens.

[12] Forty years ago they caught a whale a day; but they now catch only one in the course of a month.

[13] The oil, in consequence of not being well refined, is black and sooty.

[14] Three leagues from Sorocaba, which is twenty leagues distant from the capital. S. Paulo is the famous mountain of Varessoiba. It contains such an abundance of iron, solta e Á garnel, (loose or in heaps), that ten foundries, each melting 10,000 quintals per annum, would not exhaust it in a century; and it has wood for charcoal, which the same number would be unable to consume in that space of time. A company of Swedish miners was established here in 1810, but the undertaking was frustrated by intrigue.

[15] According to a statistical report, dated 1811, the city of S. Paulo contains 4017 houses, (fogos, hearths); 5219 whites (males), 6319 whites (females); 377 free negroes, 485 free negresses; 1967 male, and 1914 female captive negroes; 2394 free mulattoes, 3279 free mulattas; 745 male, and 896 female captive mulattoes; making the whole population 23,764. In this year (1811), the births were 1301, the deaths 785, the marriages 233.

[16] Probably the coloring matter arises from the decomposition of the hornblende; I have frequently observed a mass of granite having its surface decomposed into a red clay, in which the particles of mica were hardly perceptible, while the compact rock below contained a very fair proportion. These granites contain hornblende with mica.

[17] In one part of the town is found a beautiful species of decomposed granite, consisting of extremely white feldspar, quartz, and very little mica.

[18] Mandioca requires a dry hot soil, of a sandy nature.

[19] This generous root requires but little preparation to make it serve as a substitute for bread. When taken out of the ground they wash and scrape it clean, and then rasp it on a coarse grater of iron or copper, press the juice from it, and place it on a hot surface, a shallow copper-pan for instance, four or five feet in diameter, or a clay one, with a brick fire underneath; while drying it is constantly stirred, and when the moisture is completely evaporated, it is immediately fit for use. If preserved from wet, it will keep good a long time. In broths and soups it becomes gelatinous, and affords rich nourishment; it is particularly good when eaten with cheese. The wild or spurious mandioca, called Aipim, is little inferior, when roasted, to fine chesnuts. The Portuguese introduce it at table, boiled as well as roasted.

[20] Its leaf is shaped like a heart.

[21] The Spur-winged Plover. In the Spanish territories they are called disperteros (awakeners), on account of the noise they make when disturbed in the night. A flock of them in any plantation answers the purpose of an alarm-bell against thieves.

[22] Fr. Gaspar da Madre de Deos.

[23] I may also add their public spirit in resenting injuries done to individuals, and in supporting the cause of the oppressed; a singular instance of which I have often heard related. Some seventy years ago, one of their governors, who was a nobleman, had an intrigue with the daughter of a mechanic. The whole town espoused the cause of the injured female, and compelled the governor, at the peril of his life, to marry her.

[24] Had I approached this city by sea, I might have been enabled to give a more animated description of its aspect; but I feel it incumbent on me to adhere to veracity, the first duty of a traveller, and to describe the impression made on my mind by the view as I approached by land on my route from S. Paulo.

[25] Several have been established since the time when this narrative was written.

[26] By way of experiment, I had some fat ewes killed, and the mutton was acknowledged to be excellent; but the male lambs are never prepared for the table.

[27] A name given to those persons who go about the country seeking gold-washings, and do not give notice, or solicit a grant when they discover any. They are considered and treated as smugglers.

[28] Ere they departed, I saw an instance of that dangerous excess to which the passions of savages are liable when once excited; for, on presenting a few bottles of liquor, there was a general strife for them, and the person, man or woman, who first obtained one, would have drank the whole of its contents, had it not been forcibly taken away. It is very unsafe to give them ardent spirits, for when intoxicated it is necessary to confine them. If preference is given to one, the rest are insolent and unruly until they obtain the same mark of favor.

[29] I was well informed that a few hundred pounds, judiciously employed, would defray the expense of making a good road from Canta Gallo to Porto das Caixas, which loaded mules might travel in two days.

[30] The mode of crossing a river with horses or mules in these parts, is to tie one to the canoe, and drive him into the water; the rest follow.

[31] The little lime which they use here is made of shells, and is brought from Porto das Caixas.

[32] In one part of the road we passed a nest of insects (called marimbondos), which are extremely troublesome to cattle, and cause the mules to be very violent and unruly. They attack with great pertinacity, and pursue to a considerable distance; we took a devious route to get rid of them, but I was followed by some which stung me as painfully as an irritated wasp could have done. There is a singular variety of them, having a horny pointed proboscis, with which they pierce most keenly and give intolerable pain.

[33] No person can be permitted to see the diamonds in the Treasury without a joint order from the ministers to that effect.

[34] This name is given to what we should call a huckster’s shop, where various articles, such as liquors, Indian corn, and sometimes sugar, are sold. Though they profess to answer the purpose of inns, they are destitute of conveniences; travellers who carry their beds and cooking utensils with them, generally prefer lodging in a rancho or estallage. Shelter from rain and night air is the only convenience which a lodging in these districts can be expected to afford.

[35] In this country the practice of cutting flax is attended with great success, and is preferred to that of pulling it, which prevails elsewhere. The fibres, though cut, are considered sufficiently long to be spun and made into good common linen. The old roots produce fresh shoots incredibly soon.

[36] They also informed me that green topazes were sometimes found, which I very much doubted. If any substance of that color, resembling topaz, did occur, it was most probably Euclase. It is now known that Euclase is found with topazes.

[37] Our mules required at least six penny-worth each per day, exclusive of their corn.

[38] In England I once knew an instance in which an ingot with mercury adhering to it, in the possession of a person ignorant of metallurgy, was sold at a reduced price, as if the discolored part had really been lead; the purchaser also supposing that to be the case.

[39] The finest parts of these tracts, in the best season, are by no means so rich in grass as an English meadow.

[40] This species of sublimation on a small scale interested me greatly. Could it proceed from any glimmering of science in the minds of the negroes, or was it merely an accidental discovery?

[41] This substance contains fine-formed octahedral crystals of magnetic iron.

[42] An owner of mules, who travels with a number of them, carrying goods for other persons, as well as on his own account.

[43] Canga is the name of ferruginous quartz, fragments of which abound in this town, and are used for paving the streets.

[44] Four vintens are nearly equal to a shilling of our money. When this rivulet was first washed for gold, the quantity produced by each gamella amounted in value to that sum. As the cascalho then lay near the surface, and required very little trouble to get at, one washer could clear about twelve bowls-full per hour, which was considered a comparatively rich return.

In the mines they have two methods of estimating the quantity produced: for example; Quatro Vintens, here mean four vintens of gold, which is equal to eight of copper; whereas, in Rio de Janeiro, the same expression implies four vintens of copper.

[45] In order to insure the vigilance of the overseers, these chairs are constructed without backs or any other support on which a person can recline.

[46] The negroes employed in these works are the property of individuals, who let them to hire at the daily rate of three vintens of gold, equal to about eight-pence, Government supplying them with victuals. Every officer of the establishment is allowed the privilege of having a certain number of negroes employed.

[47] The negroes are constantly attending to the cascalho from the very commencement of the washings, and frequently find diamonds before this last operation.

[48] Probably fugitive negroes, who subsist in this remote district by plunder and smuggling.

[49] It was then in seed, of which I collected a small quantity; since my return, I have sent part of it to the Agricultural Society, and the remainder I have distributed among gentlemen who endeavoured to promote its growth in this country, but without effect. It is rather a hardy grass, as it grew in situations which were all so cold, that the bananas and coffees were frequently blighted.

[50] The ladies particularly wished to have the cheese of a fine color, like that sent thither from England; and I was at no loss for an ingredient for tinging the milk, as the tree, which produces the seed from which annatto is made, grew spontaneously in the neighbourhood.

[51] On the road there are numerous farm houses, which afford sufficient accommodation for a traveller. They in general belong to persons resident in Tejuco, where their produce is sold.

[52] In some of the low swampy tracts large serpents are not uncommon. At Tejueo I was shown the skin of a young one, of the Boa Constrictor genus. It was twenty-four feet in length, and about twenty inches in circumference. These formidable reptiles have been killed forty feet long! The strength of such a serpent is not easily to be imagined; they have an undulating motion, and carry their head erect four or five feet from the ground; their jaws, &c. are capable of inconceivable dilatation.

[53] Since my return, His Excellency the Conde de Funchall, ordered a model of a ballast-lighter, which I got constructed for him, and which will one day or other be found extremely useful.

[54] It may become useful at Villa Rica; but the quantity required there at present is so trivial as scarcely to merit attention.

[55] If salt were cheaper they might be cured, and would become an article of commerce, particularly during Lent.

[56] Exclusive of this amount there is a vast quantity smuggled.

[57] One Sunday morning during my stay, an owner of a washing came to the house of the Intendant, and brought him two miserable diamonds of bad color, which did not weigh together above five grains, and these, he said, were all which his ten negroes had found in six weeks. In the course of conversation, the Intendant observed that all the smugglers were either imprisoned or dispersed, when the man immediately assumed an appearance of great disgust at the mention of persons of so vile a description, and was liberal in his epithets of abuse on them. If I durst have enquired how it happened that his negroes in six weeks could find only two bad-colored diamonds, what emotions would this immaculate miner have manifested!

[58] From all accounts relative to the Indians, either by the officers employed against them, and better acquainted with their habits than other men, or from any of the settlers who live near the coast, it does not appear that they have the smallest knowledge of gold or of precious stones; hence they can in no degree have contributed to the discovery of those treasures in the district.

[59] At a place called Caldeiroens, near to Ouro Branco, I received two bits of this metal, but they were so small and disfigured, as to leave strong doubts respecting their being natural; the more so, by reason of the many impositions that were attempted to be practised upon me by false specimens of copper-ores, silver, &c.

[60] A part of the lichen which I brought home with me I presented to a gentleman who was fond of chemical experiments: he obtained from the small quantity of three grains as much coloring matter as imparted to an ounce of fluid a deep purple, sufficiently strong for every purpose of dying.

The following are the results of some experiments which he did me the favor to make:

White sewing-silk, put into an alcoholic solution only once, received a fine strong purple.

Part of a skein of the same material, was put into a solution of potash, which produced a purple deeper in hue than the former.

Cotton thread and worsted yarn, immersed only once in the same solution, produced very nearly the same colors.

The part of a skein of silk died in the alcoholic solution was immersed in a solution of muriate of tin, which produced a beautiful lilac, approaching to dove-colored blue. The same substance died in a solution of potash, and immersed in a solution of muriate of tin, became a few shades darker, and rather more of a pink hue. These are not unfavorable results from a quantity so minute; and I feel confident that this substance may be rendered a very valuable article of trade.

A few weeks ago, I received another sample of excellent lichen, very full of color, which I hope may be turned to some advantage.

[61] In many parts of the coast, the plant which produces the barilla would probably florish abundantly, if introduced, and would form an excellent article of commerce, not only for exportation, but for home consumption.

[62] There are several rivulets in various parts that bear this name.

[63] If necessary, another channel might be made at a convenient distance from the first.

[64] It cannot be too much recommended to Government to introduce the process of amalgamation generally throughout the mines.

[65] Bucking-irons, are pieces of cast-iron with wood handles, used at the lead mines, to break the ore from what it adheres to.

[66] A lixivium of strong ashes is made, and a quantity of lime is put into it: or sometimes the ashes are mixed with a larger proportion of lime, and the clear fluid running from the mixture is added to the juice in various quantities, at the discretion of the negro who manages the process: respecting this temper various opinions prevail. Every negro has his peculiar mode of making, mixing, and applying it.

[67] In skimming, lading, and managing the syrup during the operation, the negroes display great dexterity.

[68] Large trees are cut into planks of these dimensions for making the cases, which are preferred to hogsheads.

[69] The West India sugars are not clayed, consequently much stronger and fit for refining and making loaves.

It is much to be desired that the very excellent work, written by Bryan Edwards, upon sugar making, and distilling rum, was introduced in Brazil.

[70] It is considered bad policy to subject the raw material, as cotton, to a heavy duty, and very discouraging to planters, who must have large capitals employed, and who are greatly exposed to loss if the crops fail. Too much stimulus cannot be given to the growers; and they ought to be encouraged by a premium, rather than to pay a tax on the unmanufactured article.

[71] During the past few years, the Governors of Matto Grosso have used every effort to shorten the distance from these remote provinces to the sea ports, by making roads, cutting down woods, and forming establishments to accommodate passengers, so that canoes, &c. may be transported over land, and make straight-forward communications from one river to another, which has shortened this journey at least two months.

[72] SutaÒ. This is a place understood to be uninhabitable for Europeans, being the residence of uncivilized Indians, and covered with almost impenetrable woods.

[73] So called, because they abound with these animals.

[74] This river being the grand channel of communication from Rio de Janeiro, Santos, S. Paulo, and other places, to the interesting districts of Cuiaba, Matto Grosso, the whole of Paraguay, the river Plata, Potosi, Chiquisaca, and a great part of Peru, I have preserved the particular detail given in this paper, of its numerous falls, and the difficulties of its navigation, as it is now well known, and there is great reason to suppose, that it will soon be much more frequented.

[75] The labor of dragging the canoes over-land to avoid the cataracts might be much lessened (where the finest timber is in such abundance), if Government were to order rail-ways to be made, upon which loaded canoes might easily be drawn on wheels. This would more facilitate the intercourse than any other measure, and, from the present enterprising spirit and wisdom of his Majesty’s ministers, we may soon hope to see it put in practice.

[76] The Silver from Potosi, which some years has exceeded twenty millions of dollars, came down the Rio de la Plata to Buenos Ayres.

[77] Some English settlers, disappointed in the river Plata, went to Rio Grande to establish concerns for curing beef, refining tallow, &c. which they soon abandoned from the want of practical knowledge.

[78] Almost every vessel brings a greater or smaller number of negroes, it being the practice at Rio de Janeiro to ship off all those who are ill-disposed and troublesome for Rio Grande, whence, if they continue refractory, they are frequently sold into the neighbouring colony.

[79] It has been found, however, from modern surveys, that those rocks are by no means so dangerous as they have been represented.

[80] In Brazil and the Plata the bridle is made of sufficient length to serve the purpose of a whip.

[81] Delicate connections were soon formed, and females of the obscurest class appeared dressed in the most costly extreme of English fashion.

[82] An arroba is equal to 32lbs. avoirdupois.

[83] Cotton of third quality is manufactured in the country into coarse cloth for bags, negroes’ dresses, &c. and exported to the Spanish colonies in large quantities.

[84] Formerly, if any diamonds were found in a gold-washing, the owner was obliged to desist from working it, and the ground was appropriated by government. This law is now no longer in force.

[85] It is reasonable to suppose, that few persons would hazard the penalty incurred by dealing in diamonds clandestinely, when, by paying a duty, they could bring them fairly into circulation.

[86] Bay salt.

[87] It would be interesting to enquire, in what manner the salt acts upon the ore containing silver, for without it the mercury has no effect.